As part of the National Action Plan for Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria, hospitals and healthcare systems have been called upon by the White House to implement antibiotic stewardship programs by 2020. The goal of the plan is to ensure the appropriate use of antibiotics and reduce the growing emergence of resistance. A previous guideline on antibiotic stewardship was released in 2007 and focused on the development of programs rather than on specific evidence-based strategies that have been shown to be beneficial in ensuring that such programs are effective and sustainable. The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) and Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) have recently published a new guideline in Clinical Infectious Diseases that emphasizes the use of various interventions depending on local resources, issues, and expertise. The Foundation In total, IDSA and SHEA issued 28 recommendations in the new guideline. All of these recommendations stand on their own, complete with a section of literature that supports the recommendation. The guideline was based on a review of hundreds of stewardship-focused papers that examined different strategies, “We included new studies as much as possible,” says Tamar Barlam, MD, who co-authored the update with Sara Cosgrove, MD. “For example, several recent studies show that a shorter course of antibiotics appears to be just as effective as a longer course,” she says. “A shorter but equally effective course would theoretically provide less opportunity for side effects or the emergence of resistance.” Dr. Barlam notes that the IDSA/SHEA writing committee started with a recommendation they feel should be the first step in running an antibiotic stewardship program. “Pre-authorization, prospective audit and...